Harry Levinson obituary

Harry Levinson was an opponent of Israeli foreign policy and joined Peace Now UK.

My friend Harry Levinson, who has died aged 76, was an artist, film-maker, physicist and Francophile. In the early 1980s he opened a studio, Hampstead Decorative Arts, in a converted stable in Archway, north London.

There, Harry's students learned to use a mixture of traditional and modern artistic techniques, including trompe l'oeil and marble effects, two of his specialities. The arrival of the digital era later spurred him to open another studio, Highgate Digital Arts.

Born in Glasgow, Harry took a degree in mathematics and physics at Glasgow University. In 1965 his paper on the origin of relativity theory was published in the British Journal for the Philosophy of Science.

Harry then changed direction and embarked on the BBC's television production training course. He went on to direct many educational programmes, ranging from science and technology to crafts and management. He made science programmes for the BBC2 series Horizon, followed by documentaries on a wide range of subjects including modern dance and religion.

Harry could be a severe judge of both film and art. It was a joy to visit any museum with him, just to catch his comments, which were usually scathing. Harry taught film and TV production and direction at universities and art schools, and in the early 1970s he became senior lecturer in charge of film and TV at the North East London Polytechnic (now the University of East London).

He also wrote a book, The Pleasures of Home: Paint and Paper, which was published in 1998.

As an opponent of Israeli foreign policy, he joined Peace Now UK and made a short film about the organisation's project Settlement Watch, which monitors the growth of settlements in the occupied territories and abuses at checkpoints. The film was widely circulated and was shown at the House of Commons.

In the mid-1980s, Harry bought a share of an old house in the remote village of Dormillouse, south-east France. Until a few years ago, he remained a vigorous mountain walker and swam in the ponds in Hampstead, north London.

As his health declined, he thought often of Dormillouse but the journey to the Alps, always difficult, had become impossible. Last year, he was diagnosed with motor neurone disease. His active mind and his power of speech were kept intact, but the physical effects were devastating. As a close friend for more than 20 years, I will miss his warmth, his irony, his wide-ranging intelligence and, most of all, his humour.